Man gets big refund check after water cut off

SAVANNAH -- Hubert Emory Taylor had his water cut off after the Savannah officials claimed he didn't pay the bill.

A week later, the 84-year-old Savannah man has all the water he wants -- and the city is reimbursing him $1,438 for overpaid trash bills dating to 1991.

''It's really a very rare kind of case,'' said Assistant City Manager Bob Bartolotta, who authorized the refund despite an ordinance that says the city is required to go back only three years in issuing refunds.

Bartolotta traced the snafu to the city's purchase of the independent water-sewer utility that once served Taylor's southside neighborhood.

The city, which previously had billed those residents only for trash pickup, added charges for water and sewer service after the purchase. But the department that handles utility billing erroneously continued sending duplicate bills for trash pickup, he said.

Other residents who received duplicate bills immediately reported the error, Bartolotta said.

But the largely bedridden Taylor didn't know about the situation because his son and daughter-in-law, who live in Cleveland, handle his financial affairs.

''I just wanted what was right,'' said Jodette Taylor, who learned of the interrupted water service from one of the nurses who look after her father-in-law in his home.

Taylor said she and her husband simply hadn't noticed the double billing, but verified the overpayments through their check register.

City officials told her the cutoff had been a mistake, but confirmed the billing mistake in their own records, she said.